Smartphones vs mobile phones

Mobile phones have come a long way. A modern smartphone is a miniature computer with access to tens of thousands of apps which can perform pretty much any task you can imagine…and quite a few you would never imagine. But do you really need a smartphone or will a good old fashioned mobile phone do? It all depends…

How much do you travel?

Smartphones are great for travelling. You’ve got access to the internet, your emails, GPS navigation, all your apps…pretty much anything you need on the go. Most traditional mobile phones offer little more than the ability to make or receive a phone call or a text message…although GPS navigation is not unheard of.

Social networking and games

If you enjoy social networking and games, you won’t regret buying a smartphone. You have all the social networking sites – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. – right at your fingertips 24/7. The same goes for games. You literally have thousands of options, no matter which smartphone platform you choose. The smartphone is way superior in this area.

Multimedia

Smartphones are great for listening to music and watching videos…although their video capabilities are obviously limited by the screen size. Most smartphones also have a surprisingly good camera these days – 8 megapixel with advanced digital zoom and flash is not unusual. You can take still pictures as well as record video …and you have access to built-in editing software. Most traditional mobile phones offer a basic camera and no video capabilities.

Cost

Smartphones are magnificent little machines but they do come at a cost. Not only do you pay more for a more advanced handset, it will also cost you more to use it. The more you use the internet, download apps etc. from your smartphone, the more your carrier will charge you. A traditional mobile phone is by comparison a simple product and as you won’t be able to access the internet, nobody can charge you for it.

User-friendliness

Apart from cost, user-friendliness is the only obvious reason to stick to a traditional mobile phone. If you only use your mobile phone to make or receive calls, there’s no reason to confuse the picture with a lot of features you won’t be using anyway. Having said that, the latest generation smartphones are quite easy and intuitive to use.